For more, read “There’s no shortage of teachers. We’ve just driven them out of schools” (Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, August 8, 2022)

Faded Globes & Paper Clips

I’m boxing up the school supplies I had to buy myself
With copies of The Color Purple stranded on the shelf
Before they, too, are whisked away by Angels of the Right
Proud to parade as self-appointed Sentinels of Light

The school board meeting signs declare a crisis of the mind
Each morning’s text alerts bring warnings of a different kind
The globe beside the window gathers dust as countries fade
I’m disappearing, too, into this future that we made

The clatter of old pencils in the trash can sounds like rain
The days add up to years, paper clips linked in a chain

It’s hard to put my finger on the moment that it changed—
Parents who’d shown support fell silent or became estranged
The media reports grew dire, stump speeches took a turn
Toward darker innuendo, jokes about which books to burn

A decal of the rainbow flag clung to the classroom door
It disappeared except for one small corner where it tore
This long strange trip through decades from the day that I was hired
Ends here, where hallways echo with the footsteps of the fired

The days add up to years like paper clips linked in a chain
The clatter of old pencils in the trash can sounds like rain
Like rain…

You governors & gun nuts, self-absorbed & resolute
Will we earn your forgiveness if we only learn to shoot?
Or surrender to the myth that history is CRT—
Which Founding Fathers would agree?
Let’s resurrect a few & see…

Where do young people turn when there’s no one to trust at home?
Maybe compassion’s lodged in some endangered chromosome
Who’s counting up the weeks, uneasy in the lunchroom noise?
The full force of the law brought down to rob her of a choice

Boomers mocked as groomers, Generation X crossed out
Millennials worn down, a thousand voices casting doubt
You’ll never get those years back, you’re the nation’s nemesis
Discarded faculty escorted from the premises

The clatter of old pencils in the trash can sounds like rain
The classroom cameras see it all, it’s time to break the chain
The SUVs line up, In God We Trust gleams in the sun
Since anyone can teach (they say)
Another school year has begun